Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, cultivar Wespeba.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Wespebaxe2x80x99.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Sudlohn-Oeding, Germany. The new Petunia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor of a proprietary Petunia selection identified as 99 P 38, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Petunia selection identified as 99 P 88, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Petunia was selected by the Inventor in 2000 in a controlled environment in Sudlohn-Oeding, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in Sudlohn-Oeding, Germany since 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Wespeba have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Wespebaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Wespebaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Petunia cultivar:
1. Cascading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Short internodes, dense and bushy growth habit.
4. Single salverform purple and white bi-colored flowers with undulating petal margins.
Plants of the new Petunia differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in flower coloration.
Plants of the cultivar Wespeba can be compared to plants of the Petunia cultivar Brevt, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,679. However in side-by-side comparisons conducted in Sudlohn-Oeding, Germany, plants of the new Petunia and the cultivar Brevt differed in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia had shorter internodes than plants of the cultivar Brevt.
2. Plants of the new Petunia had shorter petioles than plants of the cultivar Brevt.
3. Plants of the new Petunia had smaller sepals than plants of the cultivar Brevt.
4. Plants of the new Petunia had darker purple-colored flowers than plants of the cultivar Brevt.